[nagdu] Statistics on Guide Dog use

[Marion & Martin]

Angie,
    Thanks for your support and for listening to the interview. Joe said on 
the chapter Presidents' list that there were more than 500 listeners, so the 
word about NAGDU got out far and wide! We need to find these creative ways 
to spread the word!
    As for the statisttics about guide dog use, I wasn't the one who came up 
with the figure; that was Joe's doing! I would need to listen to the 
interview again to hear how it went, but when Joe threw out that figure, I 
think I did a quick math problem in my head, thought about the counts at 
convention and said, "That sounds about right!"
    I remember we had this discussion on the list and it seemed that Ed 
Eames gave us a figure. Now, perhaps there is a personal issue with him (in 
the interest of full disclosure), but I don't know how accurate his figures 
are, either. I remember hearing somewhere that the figure was much lower, 
too - something like 2 - 3% - but I'm not even sure where that comes from. 
In any case, I think one point is that a majority of blind people do not use 
guide dogs. I wonder if a majority even use white canes! (smile)
    Again, thank you for your support and your involvement in NAGDU. have an 
awesome week!

Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Angie Matney" <angie.matney at gmail.com>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 2:31 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Statistics on Guide Dog use


>                Hi Marion,
>
>
>
> I just listened to your excellent initerview on Through Our Eyes.
>
>
>
> I have a question. You mentioned that approximately 5 to 7% of blind 
> people
> use guide dogs. Can you cite the source for this statistic? I ask because
> all other sources I have seen give a much lower figure-somewhere around 
> 1%.
> Does the statistic you cite include all blind people, or only those who 
> use
> some form of mobility aid other than sighted guide?
>
>
>
> Also, I'm not sure how many conclusions we can draw based on the number of
> teams in attendance at national convention. I think that the group who
> attends national convention is not likely to be an accurate representation
> of the demographic of all blind people. I think the group at convention
> probably has a higher rate of guide-dog use than blind people as a whole.
> Also, I would guess that the number of guide-dog teams at ACB's convention
> is even higher. Perhaps Jenine or someone else on list can speak to this
> point.
>
>
>
> Again, thanks for representing NAGDU so eloquently.
>
>
>
> Angie
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/swampfox1833%40verizon.net